Kansas has opened the season 3-0, and the early returns have been strong across the board. Double-digit wins over Fordham, Middle Tennessee and Kentucky have given the Jayhawks plenty to like, and the first-week report card comes back clean: straight A’s.
The backcourt has been the liveliest part of the roster so far, and it’s also the hardest place to sort out because so many guards have made a case for bigger minutes. Tre White has been the headliner, leading Kansas in scoring through three games at 20.3 points per game while doing it with impressive efficiency in just 24.7 minutes a night. He capped the stretch with 30 against Kentucky, and his shooting remains a major piece of the offense as one of the team’s few dependable threats from deep.
Taylen Kinney has taken a different route to impact. He hasn’t needed to score to matter, and even with a rough 17% shooting mark from the field, he’s still averaging four assists per game.
That included eight against Kentucky. His defensive effort has also shown up in a big way.
Melvin Council Jr. started the season strongly before suffering a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot. In the two games he played, his biggest imprint came on defense, where he averaged 2.5 steals. He also handed out seven assists against Fordham, and his chemistry with Kinney is still a work in progress that can develop further as the season goes on.
Leroy Blyden Jr. gave Kansas an early glimpse of his scoring ability with 15 points against Fordham in the opener. He arrived with a track record, too, after averaging 16.4 points per game last season at Toledo and earning MAC Freshman of the Year honors. The shot hasn’t quite fallen yet, but some of that has been bad luck, and he should continue to fill the starting spot opened by Council’s injury.
Then there’s Trent Perry, the surprise of the bunch. The 6-foot-5 freshman has already made his presence felt with defense and motor, and his transition play has stood out in limited minutes. His 7-foot-2 wingspan gives him the kind of reach that lets him swipe at the ball and disrupt possessions with ease.
The frontcourt has been just as encouraging. Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 overall recruit, has lived up to the billing through three games.
Like Kinney, he can swing a game without needing to pile up points every night. He posted the highest plus-minus for Kansas in two of the three games, and even his lowest mark was plus-26 against Kentucky.
In that game, he put up 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while hitting 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
Keanu Dawes has had a smaller role than he may have expected a few weeks ago with the injunctions, but he has still found a way to contribute. He’s averaging seven rebounds per game and has shown enough on his 3-point attempts to suggest more is there. Kentucky was his low point so far, with a season-low 10 minutes and the only negative plus-minus on the team, but that looks more like a bump than a trend.
Dennis Parker Jr. has also seen his role shrink, yet he remains a player who could matter later if Kansas makes a tournament run. His scoring ability was already known from his time at Radford, and his defense has been better than advertised. If that defense keeps showing up and his 3-point shot, which was near 40%, starts dropping, his minutes should rise.
At center, Trey Kaufman-Renn has been the most impactful addition. Though listed as a forward, he’s functioning more like a small-ball five, and his experience - 147 games at Purdue - plus his physicality have made him a natural fit.
He showed that against Kentucky by ripping a rebound away from a Wildcat with ease. He’s also added a 3-point element, making both of his attempts so far, and his passing has been a real weapon.
When he had space against Kentucky, he made the right read, finishing with six assists.
Christian Reeves has been another pleasant surprise. After questions about whether he could produce at the power-conference level, he’s answered them early. His eight points and four rebounds against ranked Kentucky showed he can give Kansas real minutes and real production.
That leaves Kansas with a spotless opening grade and a strong early profile. The Jayhawks are now No. 15 in the AP poll, No. 3 in KenPom and No. 2 in Bart Torvik.
The next big test comes at the Players Era Tournament this week, where there’s hope to see this team line up against No. 1 Florida or Big 12 rival Houston.
In Other News...
Bill Self Sees One Early Tournament Wrinkle For Kansas
Kansas is heading to Las Vegas next week for the Players Era 8 Tournament, and the Jayhawks will open against UNLV on Nov. 17 before the bracket starts to reveal what kind of trip this really becomes. For Bill Self, the event carries the usual early-season value of high-level competition, but it also comes with a wrinkle that can change the feel of the week depending on how the draw unfolds.
The possibility of running into Big 12 opponents West Virginia and Houston is the part that makes the bracket more interesting, and Self has already framed it as neither an ideal setup nor a bad one. Kansas is also still navigating the absence of Melvin Council Jr., who will miss the rest of non-conference play with a foot injury, so the Jayhawks arrive in Las Vegas with both opportunity and uncertainty hanging over their schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Self Sees Something Different In This Kansas Team
Bill Self has noticed a different edge in this Kansas group, one that shows up in the way the Jayhawks carry themselves and react on the floor. He has pointed to the youthful fire and passion of this team as a welcome change, saying it is easier to work with a group that already brings energy than one that has to be pushed into it. Even in a program that expects intensity as a baseline, that kind of natural emotion can stand out.
The recent game against Kentucky offered a clear example, with Kansas showing a level of intensity and feeling Self said he appreciated. For a coach who has spent years managing the rhythms of a veteran-heavy program, it is a notable shift to see a team respond with that much visible juice so early. Whether that energy becomes a defining trait over the rest of the season is still to be seen, but it has already given Self reason to believe this group may look and feel different from some of his recent ones. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Suddenly Needs Isaiah Marshall To Carry The Run Game
The early kickoff against West Virginia brought an early jolt for Kansas, and not the kind the Jayhawks wanted. Starting running back Dylan Edwards was injured on a first-and-goal play and had to leave for the locker room, leaving the offense to adjust on the fly while the game was still settling in. Kansas still found a way to build a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, helped by Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman finishing off a drive after an interception.
Now the run game looks like it may need Isaiah Marshall to take on a bigger role as the Jayhawks sort through the fallout. With Edwards unavailable and the offense already forced into an in-game shuffle, Kansas has to lean on depth and keep the ground game moving without much time to ease into the change. For a team trying to control the pace, that kind of sudden shift can reshape everything about how the rest of the afternoon unfolds. [Read more 🡒]